Wainwright's pitching, homer help Cardinals edge Brewers

Associated Press  —  4/17/2008 9:49 am

ST. LOUIS -- Milwaukee's promising start took another hit Wednesday as St. Louis survived a ninth-inning Brewers rally to win 5-4.

The Brewers have been held to five runs and 11 hits in dropping the first two games of a three-game series at St. Louis. Game 3 was set to begin at noon today.

"Our team has a lot of heart and a lot of fight," said Brewers manager Ned Yost, whose team slipped to 8-6. "They'll go through their ups and downs but they'll always find ways to battle through it, and that's why their so much fun to be around."

St. Louis won its seventh straight home game, and the Cardinals' 11-4 overall record is tied with Arizona for best in the majors.

Adam Wainwright worked into the eighth inning and homered for St. Louis. He has worked seven or more innings in each of his three starts.

"I just think it's a credit to his mind-set," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "He's bound and determined to stay out there deep into the game. He just wills himself to keep going."

Albert Pujols contributed with his bat and glove. He hit an early two-run double, then made a leaping catch at first base in the ninth to prevent Milwaukee from tying it.

Rick Ankiel drew an extraordinary 17-pitch walk, Skip Schumaker gave the Cardinals a second homer from an unlikely source and St. Louis matched its longest home winning streak since 2005 at the old Busch Stadium.

Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen took a 5-2 lead into the ninth, but RBI doubles by J.J. Hardy and pinch-hitter Craig Counsell closed the gap with one out. After Pujols ranged to his right to catch Jason Kendall's liner, Isringhausen held on for his sixth save by retiring Rickie Weeks on a comebacker.

"Nobody expected anything out of us," Wainwright said. "We knew we were a good team, but it's important for us to keep this train rolling and not be satisfied with what we've done so far."

Wainwright (2-1) was picked to start the Cardinals' opener, although it was rained out, because Chris Carpenter (elbow) and Mark Mulder (shoulder) were on the mend. He retired the first 11 batters in order and allowed one earned run and five hits in 7 2/3 innings.

Wainwright hit his third career homer, connecting for a solo shot off Carlos Villanueva (1-2) for a 3-0 lead in the second. Wainwright also singled and is 4-for-8 with two RBIs this season, and has a .329 career average with nine RBIs in 76 at-bats.

"I feel like I'm going to get a hit every time," Wainwright said. "I'm sure I'll start seeing a slew of offspeed pitches here soon, and then we'll really talk about how I am as a hitter."

Pujols put St. Louis ahead with his double in the first inning. Ankiel was up next and he battled Villanueva, fouling off 11 pitches -- including seven in a row with a full count -- before walking.

"I don't think I've ever had an at-bat that took that many pitches," Villanueva said. "It definitely took a lot out of me."

Schumaker's first homer of the season and fourth of his career barely cleared the right-field wall leading off the fifth. It was such a close call, with the ball caroming off an electric sign just above the wall and back onto the field, that Schumaker stopped at second base before getting the go-ahead from the umpires.

Yost and right fielder Corey Hart both protested first-base umpire Dana DeMuth's decisive home run call, although Yost said after the game that Hart had been confused about the rules, thinking the ball had to land in the stands.

"It was a home run, but for us it was hard to see," Yost said.

Shoulder injury sidelines Kapler: Brewers outfielder Gabe Kapler missed his second straight start on Wednesday, a day after bruising his right shoulder leaping at the wall for a batting practice fly ball.

Manager Ned Yost had no problem with Kapler getting hurt before the game. Yost applauded the effort of the 32-year-old Kapler, one of the early season surprise success stories after being out of baseball for a year. Kapler was batting .423 with four home runs and 11 RBIs.

"What makes Gabe so good is he doesn't differentiate between the game and practice," Yost said. "So when he's in the outfield, he shags batting practice balls like it were a game.

"That's how you stay on top of your game."

Gabe Gross, who had been platooning with Kapler in center field, started for the second straight game on Wednesday.

Yost said Kapler was "a little better," but didn't know if he could use him off the bench.

The situation left the Brewers short in the outfield, with Tony Gwynn (hamstring) due to come off the 15-day disabled list on Saturday and Mike Cameron serving a 25-game suspension to start the season after testing positive for a banned stimulant.

Ryan Braun, the NL rookie of the year last season, was back in the lineup after one day to clear his head of an early 3-for-25 slump. Braun had three homers and nine RBIs, but a .226 batting average.

Associated Press  —  4/17/2008 9:49 am